The Choosing
by natsulucychan
Summary: Stella is having her choosing soon. Along the way she will face hardships, such as the death of her sister and an abusive father. And, in the end, she will have to choose between twelve boys vying for her hand.


**Hi everyone, review if you like it so far. I don't know if i should continue, so let me know what you think, thanks!**

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**Chapter 1:**

11 years later and no one has dared step foot on that hill, no one has dared to go outside while it rained, or, at least, be seen doing it. Now, sitting here in the library, looking over the palace gardens from my window, I allow myself to shed a few tears. I allow myself to let a trickle of my pain come out of the bottle I keep locked up inside of me. I only let small, noiseless tears seep from my eyes because the future queen could not show weakness. I pull my knees to my chest and lean my head against the window. That little bit of pain I let out makes my chest burn and my heart ache. The sky, as if following suit of my eyes, let water fall from its clouds. Looking at the rain, I felt the bottle that I kept locked tight, cracking. The rain was bringing back the terrible memories.

_My six year old, short, stubbly legs were moving as fast as they could go on the hardwood floors of the palace in my socks. I heard the rumble of three other pairs of footsteps behind me, following me. I heard an occasional shout as I flew past maids and guards, but I was already too far gone to hear them past their initial reaction. I heard a gleeful laugh then belatedly realized it had come from my mouth. I turned and saw my three sisters grinning from ear to ear. Then a body, a small body though still larger than mine, cut right into my path. I stumbled back a few feet but stayed upwards. I looked towards the persons face and saw it was a boy, but not just any boy, "Jackson," I said breathlessly. _

_ "Stella," he said with a laugh. _

_ "Gotta go Jackson," I quickly stood up, "see ya later," Soon, we were all flying over the ground again. As soon as we reached the exit, I flung myself at it, pushing the magnificent doors open. We all stumbled out into the torrential downpour. I lifted my face up to the sky, the light from the day fading into night. Moving to the right, I slid in the mud to the top of a large hill that lay to the right of the palace._

_"Guys," I shouted to my sisters, "over here." They came to my side, and together we stood looking down the hill, all of us soaked through, but grinning. _

_With a shout I jumped and landed on my stomach, before sliding. My surroundings soon all merged into a blur of colors, my hair coming free of its tight braid was whipping around my face and I loved every second of it. I reached the bottom of the hill and lay there for a second catching my breath. Then I stood up, my once white dress caked with mud as well as my face, and I whooped my triumph to my sisters. Lily, my oldest sister-at age nine-was the next to go. She slid down diagonally, so when she got to the bottom I had to run over to her. Lily wasn't smiling though, she looked petrified, and I just laughed at her until my belly ached, and she started to laugh with me. I helped her up and didn't let go of her hand as we watched Kriss, the youngest at five, go down the hill like a bullet. I held Lily's hand to give her my strength, because even though she was three years older than me, she was still scared for her little sister. I laughed as Kriss got up and shook herself before walking over to us. When she got close enough I shoved her to the floor, which wasn't hard due to the fact that I barely had to touch her before she slipped in the mud. She wore a smile on her face when she stood up and lightly nudged my should with her own. _

_Then we stood and watched as Elise- at the ripe age of eight- went down backwards. Elise was always the daredevil, willing to try the dangerous things. Lily gripped my hand tighter, but I knew Elise wouldn't get hurt. I was so completely and utterly wrong. We all stood there watching as she went on her back head first down the hill. Lily was the first one to see the rock, the one right in Elise's path. I screamed at her, I ran towards her, but she didn't hear me above the rain. I saw her hit it head first, and the only thing I heard in that moment was the crack of her skull. I don't know whether it was my imagination or if the impact really was that loud for me to be able to hear it over the rain. I paused just for a fraction of a second waiting for her to move. She didn't. I turned, Lily was frozen, Kriss had her eyes screwed shut. I moved as fast as I could. I sprinted to Lily and smacked her across the face, snapping her out of her daze. I commanded her to get the medics and alert our father, the King. I really acted like a princess that day, completely in control. I turned back and ran to Elise, not even making sure Lily understood me. All I saw was her limp body. My legs couldn't move fast enough. Or slow enough. I knelt down next to her body, and I didn't know what to do. I looked at her for any sign of life, for breath, for movement. I didn't see any. I lay down next to her and pray, I grabbed her hand and buried myself into her side and prayed more, to any willing to listen. It felt like an eternity before anyone arrived. I saw the palace doctor, coming swiftly down the hill holding a black bag. He pushed me out of the way and knelt before Elise. I watched intently, silent tears streaming down my cheeks. The first thing he did was check her pulse, he checked in both wrists and her neck. Then he started fumbling like he didn't know what to do. He looked for injuries until he found the one on her head. Then he shook his. He sat there for a while doing nothing then looked up at me, still shaking his head. _

_ "My deepest apologizes and condolences princess Stella," he said in a low gruff voice. What does condolences mean? Would Elise be all right? I already knew the answer. I sank to the ground next to Elise and buried my head in her shoulder. No one was listening, no one answered my prayers, my sister dearest, dead, it was my idea. It was my fault._

I tried to keep it together, to keep my emotions in check, but it was no use. I was breaking. The tears fell harder, as did the rain. My mind was muddling together, and I was in literal pain. I let out sobbing gasps and clutched my hands together.

Then, before I knew what was happening, I was on my feet. I was running, as fast as my lean, long, 17 year old legs would carry me, to the front doors. Today, I wasn't wearing any socks, and today there were no footsteps following mine, and today, I was broken. I was only aware of my burning chest, my gasping breaths like I couldn't take in enough air. Then I was outside. Just as I felt the rain, I slowed down to a walk and made my way over to the hill. At the top of it, I fell to the ground; my legs no longer able to hold my weight. And it was there I curled up, in my gray cotton pants and black V-neck t shirt, and released the bottle.

It was like I was suffocating in my pain. Elise, dead. Lily, gone, married off to a man from a different kingdom. The only ones left being Kriss and I. But, soon enough there will only be me, left to inherit the throne of Eden. For my father had no sons, so no heir. Therefore, he had a choice of his daughters, as to who would take the throne, and who would be married off to other kingdoms. I was his choice. The pressure, the pain, the sadness, the loss, it all pressed onto me at once, and I embraced it. But soon enough, that smothering sadness became unbearable anger. And I stood up on that hill looking down it towards Elise's grave. The marble columns of the small building stood out in the night sky, the building where the body of Elise lay.

I turned and stormed back into the palace, my body shaking with untamed anger. I walked briskly among the halls, my vision blurred my unshed tears. Soon enough I found myself back in the library. Elise loved the library; it was one of her favorite places to go. But now that she was dead, what was the point? The place was untouched, and that didn't seem right compared to all the things happening around it, and my body reacted before my mind could catch up.

My pain and my anger were controlling my hands as they came up and knocked over the first shelf of books. Then the rest was the domino effect, the first bookcase hitting the one behind it and so forth. I moved to the first bookcase still standing and swept all the books off it. All this literature was too much of a reminder. It hurt too much to look at it all.

I grabbed random books and threw them across the room. When that wasn't enough to relieve my pain, I made my way to one of the windows lining the room. I kicked it in, and the glass shattered. I vaguely registered the searing pain in my foot as I moved on to the next window, this time using my fist. I shattered the glass as well as render my right hand useless. I went to the next window and was about to use my left hand to punch it, but arms wrapped around my waist holding me back and stopping my arm.

I heard the sounds of screaming and crying before I registered that those sounds were coming from my mouth, and that the arms around my waist were those of my father. I calmed down enough to look around, the first thing I noticed were my mother and my sister on the side both looking horrified while my sister cried. I made eye contact with several maids and guards standing near the entrance to the library, and they each looked down and took steps back. Then I saw what I did. The books were destroyed, wood splintered along the floor, broken glass scattered everywhere as well as a puddle of blood where I was standing, and then everything went black.

* * *

I woke to the sounds of conversation. I kept my eyes closed, but my ears on high alert, careful to keep all my muscles relaxed, as to not alert those talking of my presence.

"She's never reacted this strongly before," I heard a high voice, definitely a woman.

"I wonder what happened, what made her crack?" A low, gruff male voice answered her.

"Oh Mason, what are we going to do?" Ah, so my mother and father were talking of me.

"Stella is my daughter and she is going to be the next Queen of Eden, she will step up to the plate if I have anything to say about it." My father replied.

"Mason," my mother warned, "She's been through a lot, go easy on her."

"Not more than any of us have been through,"

"It _has_ been more, and it _has_ been worse. You will not lay a finger on her," my mother snapped.

There was a growl, presumably from my father, and a loud crack, of skin hitting skin. I jumped up from were I had been laying in the medical wing, forgetting at the moment the pain in my limbs. There was adrenaline running through my veins and I surprised myself with a growl. My father turned his head to me from where he was standing over my mother who was now on the ground, clutching her face. I quickly got in between them, protecting my mother from the monster figure that just so happened to be my father.

"I told you _I_ take all punishments doled out by you, so you _never_ touch her again," I hissed at him. My father didn't reply, but looked surprised by my abrasiveness, after a minute of staring at me, he turned and walked away. I went to my mother's side. She seemed to have recovered from the initial shock of being hit, and her eyes looked angry, but also held sadness. I just hugged her, and did my best to take her pain away.

When everyone but the doctors were gone, I found myself back on the medical bed, cutting off the plaster cast that was around my hand and foot. I couldn't move around with two bulky casts getting in my way. When the cast on my hand fell away, I saw the damage I had done to myself. My scabbed over knuckles from my daily spars were now bloody, bruised, and battered, literally. The skin on my knuckles was gone, and they were still bleeding a little. My fingers and the areas around my knuckles were black, blue and purple. My hand was also covered in cuts that went to my forearm as well. My foot looked the same. All in all, it wasn't the worst I'd seen. I would guess that the doctor already put the necessary medicines and creams on my skin, or what was left of it, so I didn't bother. I carefully wrapped gauze around my hand, fingers, and the lower part of my forearm before I covered the gauze in white medical tape to keep it tight. It looked like a white riding glove that was cut off at the fingers. I did the same procedure to my foot then tested my standing skills. Careful to keep out of the view of the doctors, I made my escape.

As I walked among the hallways of my home, I exchanged pleasantries with all whom I passed. I knew everyone who was in the palace, I had to study the names and faces of all those employed. I did this until I found the library. I stood in the doorway of a library that looked untouched, clear of all damage I inflicted before. The large two-story room had walls painted a dark burgundy red and a white celling. Chocolate brown bookcases, each thrice as tall as me- reaching the ceiling of the first floor, were lining the walls that weren't occupied by just as tall windows. The windows covered the walls on the left side of the room on both floors. The first floor had a fireplace and chairs where you could read, and a desk to the right, immediately upon walking in where the librarian sat. The second floor was much the same as the first floor, and the window seat that I loved sat in the back corner of the second floor where no one would think to look. I slowly backed out of the library and made my way to my bedroom.

When I arrived, I collapsed on my bed to give my throbbing foot a rest. The last coherent thought I had before falling asleep was that someone had changed my clothes, so I was now wearing a deep red dress, though it was lighter than that of the library walls. My father didn't like me walking around in casual clothes, he preferred I was always dressed nicely, but I never listened to him.

* * *

I opened my eyes what seemed like minutes later when it was actually hours. Seeing my maids, I groaned and flipped onto my stomach, burying my face into my pillows.

"Princess Stella, it's almost time for The News, you must get up now," one of my maids chastised me. I groaned even louder, but reluctantly got out of my extremely comfortable bed. My three maids stood before me. Ana was the oldest in her thirties, she had long wavy black hair to her waist, now tied into a tight bun, and she was the sternest. Sovra, in her early twenties, had blonde hair that was cut short in a bob; she had nice eyes but could be strict when necessary. Levy was around my age, had long blonde hair that fell in beautiful curls, and was the most charismatic. These three ladies were my best friends.

"Come now princess, the bath is already drawn," Ana said, leading me to the bathroom. Then she turned to the others, "Levy and Sovra would you mind preparing the dress?"

I lost my clothes and stepped into the bath that was large enough to fit ten people comfortably. Ana helped me wash then brought me back to my room. There, my maids dressed me in a baby blue evening gown. It was magnificent, with lace quarter sleeves; it was form fitting around my torso then flared out at my legs, the material soft and flowing. They did my hair into an up due of brown curls in a loose bun, and fashionably let some curls fall loose framing my face. My maids finished the outfit with white gloves that fit very much like the gauze around my hand, only going halfway up my forearm. I slipped into flats that were large so it wouldn't squeeze my foot.

"Its beautiful," I exclaimed turning to my maids, "Thank you," they each beamed at the compliment. Then, I made my way downstairs to the room where the News would be taking place. As I walked through the threshold I sighed, my mother and Father were already sitting on their thrones, which were on the platform of The News. The throne to Father's right was for me, and the throne to my mothers left was for Kriss. Elise and Lily's thrones were discarded a ways back, off the platform. Brom, the host of The News was talking with the camera crew. I sighed again and took my place on the throne, sagging in my seat.

"Alright everyone," Brom's voice echoed around the room, "show starts in five," He takes his place on the stage in front of the camera, behind him there are two white chairs, and to his right is the royal family, me. Before I know it, the cameraman is counting down from five, and we're on. Brom smiles and says, "Welcome to The News, live from the royal palace. Here with me as always is His majesty and the rest of the royal family. I'll let the King take it away with some announcements."

I sit up straight and cross me ankles as the camera pans to us. I smile politely as my father starts to speak.

"So far everything is looking well for the kingdom," the king's voice booms. _Lie_._ Everything is looking horrid._ "The riots are quieting down and coming to an end in all twelve cities." _Lie. The riots are raging in cities twelve and eleven, the military force in our own city is doing no good except to cause more rioting in cities ten through six and the lower parts of five. Little to no riots in cities four and up because they're the richest and have the most resources. _"The war with the kingdom Udnov is looking up," _Lie the war is looking down, so far we are losing _"though we still encourage everyone to volunteer." _Lie. There are volunteers, but most soldiers are forced to join the army, ripped from their homes. _"And now, the whole kingdom is looking forward to princess Stella's selection." _That may be the one truth, where a lower city can be represented. My dear old selection, where I will choose one of twelve men- each from one of the twelve cities- to marry. One of them will be king. All eligible men from the ages of seventeen to twenty-one will have entered by now. My father will choose one man from each city to come to the palace, and from there it will be up to me to choose the man I 'love.' And I am dreading it. _I sit straighter in my seat if that's even possible and smile my happy smile, but my eyes tell a different story. The camera moves back to Brom.

"Ah, yes, the praised [_dreaded]_ selection," Brom says brightly, "Why don't we have the lady of the hour join us, Princess Stella?" I step from my chair, and slowly make my way over to Brom, careful to keep my steps even though each one send a searing pain up my leg. When I reach Brom he gestures to a chair and I sit, he sits across from me. "Princess Stella, if I may say so myself, that is a beautiful dress you are wearing," I smile warmly.

"Thank you Brom, my maids are very skilled," I reply, "You don't look too bad yourself," He laughs.

"I try my best, your majesty," now its my turn to laugh, not too long but not too short, just perfect. "Now to the hot topic, how do you feel about the selection? All those men sending in applications to have a chance at being your husband."

"It's a new experience, quite flattering the way you put it," I chuckle a little and make my face flush a tad pink. _The perfect response. _He laughs but replies seriously.

"You're beautiful, and any man would be lucky to be you husband," I flush a darker pink at the sincerity in his tone.

"The truth is that I'm excited to meet new people and have the chance to fall in love. To find a man fitting to rule beside me." _The perfect answer, exactly what I should have said._

"Well, there you have it folks. Next week we will find out who the twelve lucky winners are, then a few days later the selection will really begin." And with that we were off air and I slumped in my chair, tugging at the gloves which were now becoming uncomfortable when they were off, I released my foot from it confinement and headed to my room, nodding a goodbye to Brom. When I got there, I dismissed my maids and took off the dress by myself.


End file.
